Request Fill 17 - Not So Perfect, in TBoPE series
by Caera1996
Summary: Written to fill Treksnoopy's request for a story about a teenaged Joanna making a bad decision and how Jim and Bones deal with it. I'm pretty confident this went in a completely different direction than what you had in mind, but this is where my brain wanted to go. I hope you like it anyway.


Title: Not So Perfect  
Author: Caera1996  
W/C: 2,058  
Disclaimer: Not mine.  
Rating: PG  
Summary/Notes: Written to fill **treksnoopy**'s request for a story about Joanna making a bad decision and how Jim and Bones deal with it. I'm pretty confident this went in a completely different direction than what you had in mind, but this is where my brain wanted to go. I hope you like it anyway.

* * *

_"Dr. McCoy, you have a call on line two. Dr. McCoy, a call on line two."_

Leonard frowned as he closed the chart he was working on. Why would someone be calling him through the hospital main number – especially at this time of night? Unclipping his cell phone, he realized that its battery was dead, despite the fact that he'd charged it before coming in to cover for the neuro department tonight. Sighing in annoyance, he put down another trip to the AT&T store on the to-do list for this weekend. Obviously something was wrong with the battery.

He picked up his phone and hit line two.

"This is Dr. McCoy."

"Daddy?"

Immediately Leonard's parental instincts were on high alert. She sounded scared.

"Jo, what's wrong?"

"Daddy, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone with them, but I didn't think it would be a big deal and I..."

Standing, an urge to do something coursing through him, he cut her off.

"Slow down, Jo, slow down. Tell me where you are. Are you safe?" He heard her take a shaky breath.

"I'm safe…but I don't know how to get home and…I don't feel very good."

She wasn't enunciating clearly; she sounded like she was… "Are you drunk? Where are you?"

"A…a club. A dance club called Space 550. I only tried one drink Daddy, I swear. I didn't like it and now I feel a little sick."

Leonard closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, took a steadying breath as his heart started galloping in his chest. "Is Janie with you?"

"Yes. And Molly."

"Okay, you three stay together. Don't leave with _anyone_, you hear me?"

"Yes."

"I'm stuck at the hospital so I'm gonna call Jim and have him come get you. Keep your cellphone in your hand, and if I or Jim call, you answer right away. Okay?"

"Okay. I'm sorry Daddy."

"We'll talk about it later, Joanna. For now, find someplace to sit and wait."

* * *

Jim was on his way out the door before he was even off the phone with Bones. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his head. He could not believe this. Jo was supposed to be staying over at a friend's house with Janie, and instead it looked like they decided to go out. And Joanna, thank God, at least had the sense to know when she was in over her head. With Bones unable to leave the hospital and his brother and Aurelan out of town, Jim was heading out to deal with it, and he was having a real hard time wrapping his head around what was going on here. He was floored that Joanna was in this position.

Jim made it to the club more quickly than he should have, feeling frantic in a way that he hadn't experienced since that last day of kindergarten. It was only a matter of minutes to find the three of them, and he stood outside the car, taking calming breaths as he quickly called Bones to let him know that the girls were with him. And then it was a very tense ride home. Joanna was sniffling in the front seat, a tissue clenched in her hand. Janie and their friend Molly were sitting in stony silence in the backseat. Apparently they didn't know that Joanna had called for help until Jim showed up.

"Molly, are your parents home?" Jim asked.

"Yeah," she answered, her tone insolent.

"Give me the address."

Jim drove them to Molly's house, walked her to the door and explained the situation to her parents, who thought the girls had just gone to a movie. Jim handed the keys to Molly's car, which was left at the club, to her mother and left them to deal with their daughter.

When he got back to the car, Janie and Joanna were arguing. They lapsed back into silence when Jim snapped at them to shut their mouths. He was angry and disappointed and concerned, and he didn't know what to do with all of it.

"Are you bringing me home?" Janie asked.

Jim snorted and rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not. You obviously can't be trusted to be on your own right now. You're staying with us until your parents get back."

"This is so stupid, Uncle Jim. It's not like…"

"Like what?" Jim interjected. "Like you lied to adults about where you were going, drove to a club in the city, got in using what? Fake ID's? And got drunk?"

"It was one drink!" Janie exclaimed. "More juice than alcohol. I'm not drunk! And no, for your information Molly's boyfriend was working the door. We didn't need ID's."

"Not the point, Janie!" Jim said firmly. He looked over at Joanna, huddled in the front seat. "You got anything to add to this Joanna?"

Silently, she shook her head, not looking at him.

Clenching his jaw, resisting the urge to yell and lecture, he drove them home.

* * *

Jim let himself fall on the bed, exhausted and frustrated. Bones had just got home a few minutes ago, and was in with Joanna. Janie was in the downstairs guest room. This was not a sleepover.

He'd dealt with Janie earlier, to the extent he felt comfortable. Janie wasn't his child, no matter how close to his brother's family he was. He'd resisted getting into everything that could've happened, knowing full well that he'd run into the age-old teenage retort, _But it didn't!_Kids that age just weren't capable of appreciating their own vulnerability, and see parental worry as nothing but an overreaction. An annoyance. At seventeen, Janie was firmly entrenched in that mindset, so instead he'd focused on how disappointed he was with her, which at least stopped the eye-rolling.

He'd let his brother deal with the rest of it.

Joanna, though, was different story. Because she was…his. Jim had been a part of her life and upbringing for over a decade, and he felt responsible for her in a way that he just didn't with Janie.

Joanna had always been a little different…more empathetic, more sensitive. More responsible. Most of the time. And, she was considerably younger. Her sixteenth birthday was just a few months ago. And as concerned and angry as he was about Janie's poor decision making, he was absolutely sick over what Joanna had done. That she'd gone along with the other two girls, lying to Molly's parents and going to a club, and drinking. Actually drinking an alcoholic drink. He knew she struggled with fitting in, but Jim had believed that he and Bones had given her the tools and self-confidence to handle that. It terrified him to think that she'd so easily been pressured into doing something like this.

The door to the bedroom opened, and Jim raised his head to see Bones. "Hey. You talk to her?"

Leonard closed the door behind him and stretched, and then scrubbed his hands over his face. He'd gotten home as soon as he could, but it was late. He was exhausted and angry.

"Yeah. She's embarrassed and angry at herself, and genuinely sorry. I don't think she'll do anything like that ever again." Leonard undressed as he talked, too tired to even worry about where his clothes fell. Jim, though, felt fidgety with nervous energy and got up to pick up after Leonard, putting his clothes in the hamper.

"So…what else?" Jim asked. Leonard looked over at him from where he sat on the bed.

"What else what?"

"Bones….she was drinking! Does she understand the seriousness of that? Is she grounded?" Jim asked, his voice raising as he spoke. Leonard regarded Jim for a moment, surprised at his reaction.

"Yes, she's grounded for a week, and no sleepovers for a month. I do think she understands the seriousness of what she did…she was the one who called, after all. She was frightened by what she'd done, by trying that drink. She won't do it again, Jim."

"A week? That's all? Bones, if Janie and Molly could talk her into doing something like this so easily, aren't you worried about what else she could be talked into? And she may have been scared of the idea of drinking while she was out, but you can't honestly believe she won't try it at some party or another friend's house again! We need to _do_something!"

"Jim, what do you want me to do? Put her over my knee and spank her? She screwed up. She understands why what they were doing was so dangerous. She was scared, and she's genuinely sorry. I really don't think she's going to do it again."

Frustrated that Leonard didn't seem to get it, Jim crossed his arms over himself tightly. "I don't understand how _you_can be so calm about this, Leonard. After what happened to you - " Jim stopped, cutting himself off and shaking his head.

Leonard's eyebrows climbed up his forehead – and all at once he understood.

Jim was couching it terms of what Leonard had experienced as a college student with his drink being spiked and the resulting assault. While that was, of course, a very real issue – and one that he'd talked to Joanna about tonight – Leonard realized that Jim was more freaked out over the drinking itself.

And that made sense. Of course.

"Jim, come here," Leonard said, moving back against the headboard. "Come lie down with me. It's late and I'm exhausted."

Grudgingly, not really ready to settle down yet, Jim joined Leonard on the bed, throwing the blanket over them both. He sat against the headboard stiffly, but still found himself leaning into Leonard, always responding to that connection.

Leonard studied Jim's profile, the hard line of his jaw, his slightly messy hair, and sighed softly. Jim didn't like to be around people when they were drunk. Leonard hadn't forgotten that slightly rocky road they'd traveled a few years ago. He was touchy when Leonard drank anything more substantial than a beer. Of course the thought of Joanna drinking, and maybe falling into the trap set by alcohol's ability to impart bravado, would shake him up.

Because Jim loved them. Because he couldn't even entertain the slightest thought of losing another loved one the way he'd lost his step-father. Frank's alcoholism had left an indelible mark on the person Jim had become.

"Hey," he said, bringing a hand up to cup his face. Jim turned to look at him, his blue eyes dark with the memory of a long-ago pain that still held a certain power over him. "Maybe you should talk to her, too. Tell her why what she did is so painful to you. Tell her your story."

Jim swallowed hard and closed his eyes, unsurprised that Bones saw and understood him so thoroughly. After all this time, he was kinda used to it. Mostly.

"She already knows," Jim said. Suddenly feeling very tired, he moved to lie down and Leonard did the same. Jim curled slightly against Leonard's side, and Leonard responded by slipping an arm around his back, holding him the way he needed after a night like tonight.

"She knows that Frank was an alcoholic. She doesn't know what that means. She doesn't know what that meant to you," Leonard replied.

Jim was silent for a moment, thinking. It might do some good to give her a more complete picture of what his life had been like. But it was hard for him to talk about, even after all this time, and Bones was the last person he'd ever shared the story with. Years ago, now.

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, Darlin'," Leonard said. He kissed Jim softly, and slipped his other arm around Jim. He hugged him, wishing with all his heart he could take the pain that Jim still felt over what he'd lost as a child away. "Whatever you decide, I'm behind you."

Jim sighed, shifted slightly. "I just love you both so much. I can't imagine…"

"Don't," Leonard said. "Don't imagine it. You'll never have to deal with anything like that again."

Jim tightened his grip on Leonard, closed his eyes, and did his best to push the shadows of his past away, taking comfort in who and what he had now.

His husband.

And his daughter.


End file.
